Club juggling
Clubs are roughly cylindrical objects, usually around 20 inches long, with a slim handle end, and a center of balance nearer the wider "body" end. They are normally thrown so that they rotate at least once while in the air (with the top of the club rotating toward the juggler). Higher throws are usually done with more rotations. It is also possible to throw flats, which mean pushing the handle up as the club is thrown to prevent it from spinning at all. Taken further, reverse spins can be thrown, causing the club to rotate in the opposite direction. Although much more difficult, 5 club cascades on reverse double-spins have been performed. Clubs are often referred to as "pins" by non-jugglers due to their resemblance to bowling pins. However, the two vary greatly in construction, weight and weight distribution, and are not interchangeable for most purposes. Clubs are more difficult to juggle than balls or rings. Sticks are harder to run than normal clubs, but easier for flashing high numbers. The Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON) recognizes sticks as a type of club that may be used for numbers records. The basic pattern for a number of clubs is normally done with each throw rotating half as many times as the number of clubs being juggled, rounding down for odd numbers: 3 clubs are done with single rotations, 4 and 5 are done with doubles, 6 and 7 are done with triples. Any higher or lower number of rotations is usually considered a more difficult trick. The highest number of clubs that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 8 (by Anthony Gatto). So far, no one has flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) more than 8 normal clubs, but the highest number of sticks that have been flashed is 9. 3 clubs thumb|400px|left|3 club competition routines at WJF 6 Since clubs are more difficult than balls and rings, even high-level technical jugglers who mainly focus on higher numbers with other props generally work on tricks with 3 clubs. The IJA had its first 3 club performance competition in 2004 (winner: Ivan Pecel). 3 was the minimum number of clubs allowed in WJF competition routines at all levels until 2007. The intermediate and advanced competitions are now only for 4 and 5 clubs respectively. The WJF overall championship currently includes two competitions for 3 clubs: 360s (most 3 up 360s in 1 minute; held since 2004), and freestyle (held since 2006). At first the 3 club freestyle competition was a "best trick" contest like the other freestyle competitions, but in 2008 it was changed to the 1 minute routine format originally used for the WJF freestyle competitions. 4 clubs thumb|400px|left|4 club tricks by Josh Horton 4 was the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF advanced club short program in 2008; since 2010 that competition is for 5 clubs only. The WJF overall championship included a 4 club freestyle competition in 2006 (winner: Wes Peden) and 2007 (winner: Malte Peter). The WJF also has a 4 club short program for intermediates. 5 clubs thumb|400px|left|5 club 1 minute 360s world record by Vova Galchenko 5 is often the highest number of clubs used in a performance. The WJF advanced club short program has been exclusively for 5 club juggling since 2010. The other 5 club competitions in the overall championship are freestyle (best trick competion; held since 2004), 360s (most 5 up 360s in 1 minute; also held since 2004), and 5 club back cross isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2006, part of the overall championship since 2007). The world record for 5 club juggling is 53 minutes and 21 seconds by Thomas Dietz. 6 clubs thumb|400px|left|6 club 1 high 3 low 360 by Jack Denger 6 is now the minimum number of clubs used in the IJA's numbers endurance competition, and was also the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition until 2006. Since 2007 the WJF club endurance competition has started with 7 clubs, and in 2008 the WJF added a 6 club freestyle competition to the overall championship. The 6 club juggling world record is 7 minutes and 38 seconds by Anthony Gatto. 7 clubs thumb|400px|left|7 club 7 up 360 by Anthony Gatto The IJA has had 7 club endurance competitions since 1989. 7 is the highest number of clubs that have been performed on stage, the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition, and the highest number of clubs that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The WJF overall championship has two other competitions for 7 clubs: freestyle (held since 2008), and isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2006, part of the overall championship since 2007). The WJF has also had a 7 club incentive program since 2010, awarding $250 to anyone 15 years old or younger who was able to juggle 7 clubs for 50 catches at a WJF convention. Jack Denger was the first person to win the 7 club incentive program in 2011 at age 14. The world record for 7 clubs is 4 minutes and 23 seconds by Anthony Gatto. Tricks that have been done with 7 clubs include: *Cascade with club balance (qualified) video *86 (1 round to a qualify) video *966 (1 round to a qualify) video *(8x,6)* (qualified) video of a shorter run *5 up 360 (qualified) video *7 up 360 (qualified) video *Back crosses (flashed) video 8 clubs thumb|400px|left|Anthony Gatto video with three 8 club qualifies The 8 club world record is 16 catches by Anthony Gatto. The video shows three qualifying runs, each one cleaner than the last, which Anthony says were all accomplished in the same practice session. Anthony juggles 8 clubs with triple rotations. No one else has ever qualified 8 clubs, but a few other people have flashed 8. No one has successfully juggled 8 clubs in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF, which require a qualifying run. 9 sticks thumb|left|400px|9 stick flash by Bruce TiemannBruce Tiemann was the first person to flash 9 sticks in 1996 (video). This record has since been equaled by Scott Sorensen in 1997 (video), Chris Fowler in 2003 (video), and Daniel Eaker in 2009 (video). So far no one has done more than 9 catches of 9 sticks, flashed 9 normal clubs, or flashed 10 sticks.